Oddbean

On Nostr, we take privacy too much for granted. The moment you open a client like a regular user (without a VPN or Tor), you’re exposing more personal data than on almost any other social protocol or platform. Even if you’re extremely careful, it only takes one slip, one instance of not using a VPN, to become completely exposed and doxxed. I’m not suggesting changes to the protocol, in fact, I believe clients can play a crucial role here. But we need to start talking about this.

Approximate location, bit more social engineering, you get university. Also, I don’t think our searches are entirely private. If you’re searching for something illegal, there’s a chance you could be tracked or even arrested for it. Could you confirm if that’s true?

I’m not a dev and I’m not super tech-savvy but (correct me if I’m wrong or if this has already been done) could there be a way we could replicate how Bitcoin works but for Nostr? Such as host our own node/relay and configure it to where it listens to onion-only relays?

You are exposing the same data, the matter is to who. So if you consider more dangerous some random relay operators or a big tech that match and share your data with other big techs, building a very detailed profile. Hownever I understand your concerns, in fact probably you will soon find a big tech within this random operators. Some clients are already working on this front, for example Gossip and Coracle permit to selectively block the connections to "external" relays.

I expose more data when signing up for Twitter, but it’s only accessed under extreme conditions, like if the government requests it, which is really concerning. I recently saw several doxxing campaigns on Twitter, and having random people access to your approximate location is, imo, very dangerous. On Nostr, I think we can do much better, especially with its permissionless nature. Clients could offer an optional completely anonymous mode. I also want to mention my deep respect for many clients, especially what Amethyst is doing with its Tor integration, & others.

I think "Extreme conditions" is often a false security. The Facebook - Cambridge Analytica scandal should rember that. I prefer a situation where I know I'm actually exposed to possible monitoring, to force me to choose the countermeasures that I think are more appropriate. An anonymous mode is unfortunately pointless if users don't understand the implication of privacy and its value, and go on doxing themselves publishing personal informations. A little awareness is needed, before the technical tool. Btw, I agree that this is a important topic that deserves more attention.

The interesting part about this problem is that Nostr, as a protocol, is in one of the best positions to offer the most private experience possible. And these aren’t just buzzwords. With just one click, you could enable a completely anonymous mode. For some accounts, you could mark them as Tor-only, ensuring they work only when Tor is enabled. No protocol changes are needed, these issues can be addressed entirely by clients. Privacy is the best feature any client can offer. nostr:nevent1qqs8ae5pwxdr5vk27ld6wgn7u6kt5l7cx3tycgq5vwvz7rvazcvunxcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzvuhsygxx7urh795e65x0j25k22l7hlavqh7xss4eacu3pzwetxu26h2gl5psgqqqqqqsvy2z3h